Reprinted from
the September
Newsletter of
the New Church
in Great Britain
british academy summer school
The Rev. Alan M. Cowley, Pastor of Michael Church, London
What an honor it is to serve at such a unique camp.
Nowhere else in the world does something like the British
Academy Summer School exist. This year we had 22
students (10 European, 12 American) and we organized
around a theme we called “The Challenge.”
The challenge we focused on is a difficult one but I think it really speaks to
current issues facing our young people, and perhaps you, too. The challenge is:
How to be religious/spiritual in an increasingly secular world.
I won’t go into all the details of what went on at BASS; there is just too
much to cover. However, I would like to say how impressed I am with the
students who came and made it such a fantastic two weeks.
There is a hunger and thirst among our young people that bodes extremely
well for the future of the Lord’s Church. These students have such a strong
desire to make the world a better place, and to love their neighbors, and on top
of that they have an affirmative attitude toward the Lord’s guidance that nearly
moves me to tears.
So among all of the concern for the future of the Church, and the fear that
we are losing an entire generation of young people, there is a ray of hope, and
I don’t think it is limited to the 22 students at BASS.
Behind what seems to be a mass rejection of religion is actually a rejection
of abusive and harmful man-made organizations. Behind the lack of church
attendance and membership is a loud voice from people crying out for doctrine
relevant to their lives and to their world.
Does this not bode well for the coming of the New Church!? If young
people today are searching for something true, relevant, meaningful and
loving, I would suggest that the Lord has things under control. Because what
I see, whether they know it yet or not, are young people looking for the truths
contained in the Word and the Heavenly Doctrine – truths unobscured by the
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